Band News from HQ!!!

[JCOSTER]

All such interesting news....thanks everyone!

 

[last unicorn]

I'm fine with both a November and a March release, that's not so much time in between these two dates, and I'd rather U2 release the album when they really feel like it without rushing it. On the other hand, I also don't mind the "secrecy" surrounding it because I like to be surprised. So far, a lot of signs are pointing towards a fall 2008 release, also a lot of quotes and comments from the band and people associated with the production. I wouldn't start worrying now. Everything looks fine, they'll be going to Eze to continue working and maybe finish he album. I don't need any leaks or stuff like that, I'd rather be surprised by a whole new album when it's out.

 

[Rob33]

I'm fine with both a November and a March release, that's not so much time in between these two dates, and I'd rather U2 release the album when they really feel like it without rushing it. On the other hand, I also don't mind the "secrecy" surrounding it because I like to be surprised. So far, a lot of signs are pointing towards a fall 2008 release, also a lot of quotes and comments from the band and people associated with the production. I wouldn't start worrying now. Everything looks fine, they'll be going to Eze to continue working and maybe finish he album. I don't need any leaks or stuff like that, I'd rather be surprised by a whole new album when it's out.

I agree, what if U2 are just doing an effective job at keeping things more secretive this time around?

But I'm still perplexed by all this worrying about that quote. Wasn't that quote taken COMPLETELY out of context? And wasn't it confirmed by U2.com or some other u2-related website (atu2.com?) that this news is indeed false and just made up to attract attention?


Or is this confirmation just rumored?


After reading the last few posts some of you are beginning to convince me that this news is actually true!

 

[LemonMelon]

I'm just saying, compared to four years ago, we have nothing in terms of information regarding the new album. at least we had even if they were fake, rumors of the albums name. solar, winter, etc. we had some track titles. we had a tour confirmation. i no longer expect an album in the fall. i'm not complaining, they can take their time if they wish, they've earned the right to do so. 4.5 years is still a LONG time between albums though.

Yeah, but the vast majority of those stories were pure, unadulterated BS. Anyone can make shit up and make it seem as if something is right around the corner. I'd rather have the truth, even if it may test my patience a bit. The Solar thing is hilarious now.

 

[popacrobat]

Yeah, but the vast majority of those stories were pure, unadulterated BS. Anyone can make shit up and make it seem as if something is right around the corner. I'd rather have the truth, even if it may test my patience a bit. The Solar thing is hilarious now.

ok. but the tour confirmation was straight out of Paul McG's mouth. as well as the Lisbon sightings. not sure where the pure, unadulterated BS is there.

 

[rihannsu]

Songs have been played for at least one reporter at the Sundance Festival and a fan was invited in to listen to them working on a song. Catherine Owens said in a couple of U23D interviews that they were starting their tour production discussions and meetings and that Bono had lots of ideas. Lanois reported that Bono had a lyrical angle for the album and that they were narrowing down songs for the album. That is a fair bit of info.

The reports of them supposedly scrapping everything are multiple repetitions of the same outrageously unsupported report and NOT multiple different sources of the same info, so I would give a lot more weight to the comments from Lanois, Owens, Edge (his actually quote, not the crazy inference that some idiot drew) as well as the comments from Dallas and Sam that fans have reported from talking to them outside of HQ.

Personally, I think that U2 has been doing a much better job of keeping a lid on things this time around. All the quotes about getting lost in the music and not working on anything specific and not defining the project have lulled the press into not digging for more. By not giving the appearance of being in the process of doing serious work they have probably gotten a lot further along than any of us know. I don't remember the exact source but I seem to remember someone (maybe Lanois) saying that they were taking a more relaxed approach to developing the songs but that when ready they planned to record very quickly. To me the interview at Sundance with the USA today reporter showed that they were pretty far along with development. I think they've been doing a fabulous job of misdirection. If you notice Bono has not talked about the album hardly at all in any of his interviews or appearances except for a comment at the U23D premier in Dublin where he boasted that the young ones needed to watch out. No quotes about Edge being on fire, etc. They really don't need the extra buzz that he is usually drumming up before a release because they have had all the buzz they need between U23D and the remaster releases. If anything it almost necessary for them to not hype this album a lot because they have been pretty over exposed for the last few years. Because Bono is not out there doing the usual buzz quotes routine everybody is thinking they are nowhere near done but this could be a great strategy to keep leaks to a minimum. Granted this is speculation and may be just as wrong as anything else, but it makes more sense to me than buying in to this crazy unsubstantiated idea that they are scrapping everything they've done so far. Especially when Dallas commented just the other day that this is the best work they've ever done.

Dana

 

[Visiongfx]

Especially when Dallas commented just the other day that this is the best work they've ever done.

Where did you find this info?

Thanks though, i thought i was the only one who stilll had hopes for novemeber and that maybe they are just keeping things quiet because they don't want to disapoint.

-- Plus remember the whole thing with mcguinness and the Bomb being leaked all around the internet, maybe hes purposely making everything secret until a few weeks or a month before album date so people would leave them alone.

 

[bono_212]

Just remember as far as album waits are concerned, it could ALWAYS be worse, the most we've waited is 4 years.

You could be a Peter Gabriel fan
1982 - Peter Gabriel IV (Security)
1986 - So
1992 - Us
2002 - Up
2009 (slated) - I/O

Hmm...four years...six years....TEN YEARS , and at least anotehr seven...yes it sucks to be a PG fan

 

[rihannsu]

And how long has Axl been working on Chinese Democracy? Uh, the album, that is. Heck, at his speed we'll see democracy in China before the album comes out.

Oh, and I believe the Dallas comment was in the story posted about the Zootopian who finally got Larry to sign the Make Poverty History banner. They had to leave it with Edge so he could get it to Larry and then give it back. In the story I believe there were conversations with both Dallas and Sam and I think Dallas said they were doing their best work ever. I think the story is in Band Meetings and Sightings possibly in the Hanover Quay thread but it is on U2.com too so I don't really remember for sure where I read it.

Dana

 

[Rob33]

And how long has Axl been working on Chinese Democracy? Uh, the album, that is. Heck, at his speed we'll see democracy in China before the album comes out.

Oh, and I believe the Dallas comment was in the story posted about the Zootopian who finally got Larry to sign the Make Poverty History banner. They had to leave it with Edge so he could get it to Larry and then give it back. In the story I believe there were conversations with both Dallas and Sam and I think Dallas said they were doing their best work ever. I think the story is in Band Meetings and Sightings possibly in the Hanover Quay thread but it is on U2.com too so I don't really remember for sure where I read it.

Dana

WOW!

that is really exciting news, I never heard anything about it! Thanks!

 

[popacrobat]

while it could be their best work, what do you expect them to say? "It's a little better than Zooropa and Atomic Bomb, not quite on pace with Achtung or JT, and on par with UF?"

I hope it is their best work though, but that's the type of quotes that should be expected to generate hype, not taken as canon.

 

[Mr. Millennium]

The only thing that is different between now and four years ago is promo photos. I believe around this time in 2004 there were sightings of the band with Anton or whoever getting some pictures taken. Bono might have said a little more about HTDAAB as well, but that doesn't mean much.

In U2 By U2, one of the band members states that HTDAAB was finished the first week of July in 2004. We are no where near July at this point. And if it weren't for the internet, we'd all have even less news about the new album. Would that make the album any less finished?

 

[rihannsu]

while it could be their best work, what do you expect them to say? "It's a little better than Zooropa and Atomic Bomb, not quite on pace with Achtung or JT, and on par with UF?"

I hope it is their best work though, but that's the type of quotes that should be expected to generate hype, not taken as canon.

I think you're missing my point on mentioning the statement. Whether or not it really is their best work is not the issue but what is the issue is that I doubt very seriously that those kind of comments would be made it the band had in fact just scrapped their entire last years worth of work. I was only emphasizing how totally out of wack the whole idea that they are supposedly starting over is to all the other comments that have been made from many different sources about how well things are going.

Dana

 

[rihannsu]

The only thing that is different between now and four years ago is promo photos. I believe around this time in 2004 there were sightings of the band with Anton or whoever getting some pictures taken. Bono might have said a little more about HTDAAB as well, but that doesn't mean much.

In U2 By U2, one of the band members states that HTDAAB was finished the first week of July in 2004. We are no where near July at this point. And if it weren't for the internet, we'd all have even less news about the new album. Would that make the album any less finished?

Well, that still doesn't rule out that things are going on that we don't know about. Anton mentioned during one of his interviews about Control that he had been in Fez when the band was there taking pictures of his friends in U2. Now that could have been just casual shots or it could have actually been exploratory shots for album covers. You know it strikes me that everybody assumes that Bono is incapable of keeping quiet about anything but that may not actually be true. He would hardly be able to be as successful in his political manuevering as he has been without being able to keep things under his hat. But it is a great advantage to have people think that you can't hide anything because then they won't think there is anything there to hide. It's possible that U2 is playing things so close to the vest that even the record company might not know how far along they are with things. I don't think any of the previous leaks ever involved people in the U2 organization but could have been record company people so maybe this time they are being more cautious with anybody outside their immediate personel. Another reason I'm thinking they have maybe been doing even more recording than we know is Dallas' comment in the Rolling Stone Best of Rock item that Edge had decided that he needed Dallas year round and that he is now on permanant staff rather than only when recording and touring. If they did this with all of the usual suspects as regards recording then they don't necessarily have to even be in the studio to be working. We know they've done several two week sessions with Brian and Danny over the last 6 to 9 months, but the band can and usually does continue to work in between.

Bono has actually had a pretty low profile in the press recently so I'm hoping that is a bit of strategy so that maybe they actually surprise everyone at some point this summer with the first single.

Dana

 

[popacrobat]

I think you're missing my point on mentioning the statement. Whether or not it really is their best work is not the issue but what is the issue is that I doubt very seriously that those kind of comments would be made it the band had in fact just scrapped their entire last years worth of work. I was only emphasizing how totally out of wack the whole idea that they are supposedly starting over is to all the other comments that have been made from many different sources about how well things are going.

Dana

I wasn't referring to your information, but rather the reactions towards it.

 

[pepokiss]

I have a question..


is Rick Rubin out?


am I way behind on the news?

 

[U2girl]

LOL I was at work yesterday at my office with the radio on and the lady said that U2 had scrapped all their work and restarting over! I know I know there are tons of threads about this and I totally know it is from a quote that was totally taken out of context but i can't believe that a radio station who is fairly huge here in vancouver would just grab any information without verifying and announce it as if it was fact! Anyway thats it just wanted to say that sorry for bringing up the "u2 is scrapping their album" story up again.

Cheers,
Nico

No one in the band said this. Several band members, one of the producers and the manager are all saying November this year.

And fairly shortly ago, Larry's drum tech gave us some new info (see the first post in this thread). I think the March bit is just a worst case scenario.

Pepokiss : it seems that way. Edge said none of Rubin songs were even presented to Eno and Lanois, and there were certainly no news about him working with the band since those beach clips/Abbey Road sessions.

 

[dabiggestu2fan]

No one in the band said this. Several band members, one of the producers and the manager are all saying November this year.

I know that noone said it. And I know that they all are aiming for a november release. I was just simply stating the fact of how funny (or ridiculous) it was that a major radio station here would actually say this from such a dumb rumor.

 

[Needle_Chill]

I think it's quite ironic that even the quote used in the article causing all of this disturbance was one from Edge that indicated that the band are ready to record a record, and in no way pointed to or hinted at any stunted progress or regression whatsoever.

When I read the quote from Edge saying "we're getting serious now..." I was actually excited, cause it means they are thinking of an album and are going into the process with tons of new material. How does getting serious mean starting over? All it meant was a shift from making music to gearing that music toward an album.

I think the only knock on U2's creative process in the past is their reliance on ideas to pop up at the last minute (One being a successful example, and Pop being a debatable example of how that process can steer them wrong). Even if they were sorting through what they have, and discarding certian ideas, they're bound to have a great deal to work with and finalize.

 

[vaz02]

After listening to a few new oasis tracks and the recent coldplay single i can honestly say the competition are lacking creativity. Lets hope u2 arent.

 

[U2One]

After listening to a few new oasis tracks and the recent coldplay single i can honestly say the competition are lacking creativity. Lets hope u2 arent.

Really? I quite liked the new Oasis tunes. Especially I Wanna Live My Dream In A Record Machine.

The leaked Oasis tracks are demos though so I'll hold my final judgement for the real thing....

 

[doctorwho]

@salome:
my opinion is based on a 'new sound' direction similar the sound of FAST CARS. its not a 'new sound' at all.
but for U2 its 'new' as last unicorn said.
btw i still really like MYSTERIOUS WAYS but i never liked FAST CARS

I like those two songs very much - I adored "Fast Cars" just as much, if not more, than MW (perhaps because I've heard MW so much). I felt FC was a highlight of the last album and a very refreshing sound. Therefore, I am quite happy to hear of this direction.

Regardless, I'm not sure I understand any criticism given that:

1) we haven't heard any songs yet;

2) U2 have done all sorts of rock already - so should they continue repeating themselves?

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

One part of album will have strong Moroccan influence for definite. The singles have been picked and work is commencing on Radio edits of all. Band deciding what tracks are going on to album. Also some very up tempo / hard stuff on there

Sounds perfect to me! Might be another great one coming our way and I hope it all works right for it to be in November.

Really can't wait to listen to them new songs!!

 

[asr]

Mysterious Ways has no Morrocan influence AT ALL!

Mysterious Ways is much more of a soul/funk/disco influenced number. The video just happens to be taken in Morrocco. Fast Cars on the other hand is VERY Arabic.

 

[lazarus]

The hand drums on MW sound Middle Eastern to me.

 

[shaun vox]

u2 need to think big. enough of the "4 people playing in a room together' guess what its fucking boring.

 

[discothequeLP]

u2 need to think big. enough of the "4 people playing in a room together' guess what its fucking boring.

i'm wasted right now, but A-FUCKING-MEN. fuck 4 guys in a room, u2 has always been so much more than that.

 

[discothequeLP]

i was awake at 2am?

 

[ahittle]

The hand drums on MW sound Middle Eastern to me.

Yeah, what are those hand drums? Could go Middle Eastern (tabla) or Irish (bodram).

Not sure of the spelling of either of those.

I always got the Arabic vibe from MW, even before the video...

 

[the tourist]

u2 need to think big. enough of the "4 people playing in a room together' guess what its fucking boring.

I though you liked Guns and Roses.